WASHINGTON: A group of Republican and Democratic senators urged the Trump administration on Thursday to use the “full weight” of its influence to help resolve the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh, in which over 480,000 people have fled their homes.
A letter —seen by Reuters and signed by four Republican and 17 Democratic members of the 100-seat Senate — also calls on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green to provide more humanitarian aid.
“Despite international condemnation, the Burmese authorities incredibly continue to deny the atrocities,” the letter said.
It also notes that current US law — including the Global Magnitsky Act — allows Trump to impose sanctions on people responsible for gross violations of human rights.